Trematominae and Artedidraconinae: contrasted mitogenome evolution for two Antarctic radiations

Cellular respiration has been widely studied in Antarctic teleost fishes because of their peculiar adaptations to an extreme environment. In parallel mitochondrial sequence markers have become highly popular for molecular systematics. However, there are few whole mitochondrial genome sequences published, and none available for some of the subfamilies. Here, we present two large mitogenome datasets including most species and multiple sequences for many species of two subfamilies, Trematominae and Artedidraconinae (Duhamel et al. 2014). These include two highly diverse but very different adaptative radiations, with contrasting divergence dates, morphological polymorphism, and habitat dominance. The sampling is based on a well identified, extensive collection resulting from the 2008 CEAMARC survey and the subsequent REVOLTA surveys in Terre Adélie (IPEV), already DNA barcoded and sequenced in previous studies. The mitogenome sequences for these two subfamilies differ in composition, gene order, and relative divergence of mitochondrial markers, with strong, taxon-specific biases like very high C contents in some regions. The gene order change provides a synapomorphy for the subfamily Trematominae and an interesting development in teleost mitogenomes. The complete Artedidraconinae mitogenomes provide a much higher amount of variable sites (approx*30), while previous sequence datasets were plagued by low informativeness (Lecointre et al. 2011). As already established on single mitochondrial genes, intraspecific variability is lower than interspecific variability within each subfamily, however interspecific variability in Artedidraconinae is lower or similar to intraspecific variability in Trematominae. This expanded dataset confirms the unusual evolution of the mitochondrial coded sequences involved in the cellular respiration in Antarctic Nototheniidae, as well as the usefulness of complete mitochondrial genomes for their systematics. The two level multiplexing (Timmermans et al. 2010) and next generation sequencing of long PCR amplicons (following Hinsinger et al. 2015) is efficient to obtain large mitogenomic datasets representative of both inter- and intraspecific variability, key to the understanding of mitochondrial evolution and a step closer to resolving the relationships among these taxa.RECTO (Refugia and Ecosystem Tolerance in the Southern Ocean, BR/154/A1/RECTO

Impact Factor: outdated artefact or stepping-stone to journal certification?

A review of Garfield's journal impact factor and its specific implementation as the Thomson Reuters Impact Factor reveals several weaknesses in this commonly-used indicator of journal standing. Key limitations include the mismatch between citing and cited documents, the deceptive display of three decimals that belies the real precision, and the absence of confidence intervals. These are minor issues that are easily amended and should be corrected, but more substantive improvements are needed. There are indications that the scientific community seeks and needs better certification of journal procedures to improve the quality of published science. Comprehensive certification of editorial and review procedures could help ensure adequate procedures to detect duplicate and fraudulent submissions.Comment: 25 pages, 12 figures, 6 table

Women as Key Agents in Sustainable Entrepreneurship: A Gender Multigroup Analysis of the SEO-Performance Relationship

Literature points out that the effect of sustainable entrepreneurship on firm performance may be contingent on internal factors, such as top manager characteristics. This paper proposes that the gender of a firm's chief executive officer (CEO) greatly influences the sustainable entrepreneurial orientation (SEO)-firm performance relationship. An empirical study was conducted on a stratified random sampling, collecting 210 questionnaires from top managers of firms in Valencia (Spain). A multigroup moderation analysis method was used. The results confirm that women tend to increase the positive effect of SEO in firm performance

Supramolecular gating of guest release from cucurbit[7]uril using de novo design

Herein we computationally explore the modulation of the release kinetics of an encapsulated guest molecule from the cucurbit[7]uril (CB7) cavity by ligands binding to the host portal. We uncovered a correlation between the ligand-binding affinity with CB7 and the guest residence time, allowing us to rapidly predict the release kinetics through straightforward energy minimization calculations. These high-throughput predictions in turn enable a Monte-Carlo Tree Search (MCTS) to de novo design a series of cap-shaped ligand molecules with large binding affinities and boosting guest residence times by up to 7 orders of magnitude. Notably, halogenated aromatic compounds emerge as top-ranking ligands. Detailed modeling suggests the presence of halogen-bonding between the ligands and the CB7 portal. Meanwhile, the binding of top-ranked ligands is supported by 1H NMR and 2D DOSY-NMR. Our findings open up possibilities in gating of molecular transport through a nanoscale cavity with potential applications in nanopore technology and controlled drug release

Autoignition of sustainable fuels under dual operation with H₂-carriers in a constant volume combustion chamber

The expected increase in the use of environmentally friendly liquid fuels in medium and heavy-duty compression ignition engines (for both off-road and transport applications), together with the well-documented benefits of hydrogen-carriers to decrease energy dependence and to achieve a neutral-carbon economy (internal combustion engines highly contributing to the global CO2 emissions), have motivated this work. The autoignition characteristics of different alternative diesel-type fuels (hydrotreated vegetable oil, advanced biodiesel and blends of conventional diesel fuel with polyoxymethylene dimethyl ether and 1-butanol) under dual-fuel operation with H2, NH3, and CH4 were studied in a constant volume combustion chamber at 535 and 600 °C. The high reactivity fuel was replaced by the gaseous fuel up to 40 % by energy. The main ignition delay time was significantly affected not only by the type of low reactivity fuel, with ammonia considerably retarding autoignition, but also by the nature of the liquid fuel, biodiesel being the less sensitive to the presence of the H2-carrier fuel. Results also proved that the higher the reactivity of the diesel-type fuel (quantified through the cetane number), the lower the influence of the gaseous fuel on the autoignition time.El aumento previsto en el uso de combustibles líquidos inocuos para el medio ambiente en motores de encendido por compresión de servicio mediano y pesado (tanto para aplicaciones todoterreno como de transporte), junto con los beneficios bien documentados de los vehículos de hidrógeno para disminuir la dependencia energética y lograr un economía neutral en carbono (motores de combustión interna que contribuyen en gran medida a las emisiones globales de CO 2 ), han motivado este trabajo. Las características de autoignición de diferentes combustibles alternativos de tipo diesel (aceite vegetal hidrotratado, biodiesel avanzado y mezclas de combustible diesel convencional con polioximetilen dimetil éter y 1-butanol) en operación de combustible dual con H 2 , NH 3 y CH 4fueron estudiados en una cámara de combustión de volumen constante a 535 y 600 °C. El combustible de alta reactividad fue reemplazado por el combustible gaseoso hasta en un 40 % por energía. El tiempo de retardo del encendido principal se vio significativamente afectado no solo por el tipo de combustible de baja reactividad, con el amoníaco retardando considerablemente el autoencendido, sino también por la naturaleza del combustible líquido, siendo el biodiesel el menos sensible a la presencia del combustible portador de H 2 . Los resultados también demostraron que cuanto mayor es la reactividad del combustible tipo diésel (cuantificada a través del número de cetano), menor es la influencia del combustible gaseoso en el tiempo de autoignición

Commentaries on Viewpoint: The ongoing need for good physiological investigation: Obstructive sleep apnea in HIV patients as a paradigm

The final publication is available via http://dx.doi.org/10.1152/japplphysiol.00989.2014[Abstract] The intriguing paradigm put forth by Darquenne et al. (3) highlighted that improved therapy against human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) has come at the cost of elevated rates of chronic diseases, such as obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and obesity, during the highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) era.Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad; TIN2013-40686-P

Addressing the challenge of ammonia slip and nitrous oxide emissions from zero-carbon fuelled engines through catalytic aftertreatment solutions

Addressing climate change demands, energy security and resilience has necessitated replacing conventional fossil-based fuels with zero and carbon-neutral fuels/energy carriers. The most immediate solution is the partial and progressive substitution of conventional fuels in transportation. The effects of partially substituting gasoline with ammonia/hydrogen (NH3/H2) mixtures in a spark ignition (SI) engine are investigated in this paper. The utilization of NH3/H2 mixtures is a promising avenue of research since they can be produced from on-board NH3 reforming, utilising heat energy that is recovered from hot exhaust gases. Experimental results indicate that adding NH3/H2 enabled stable engine operation at lean conditions (λ = 1.4), resulting in reduced carbon-based emissions due to the non-carbon nature of NH3/H2. Utilising an integrated approach that combined a hemispherical flame geometry model with a thermodynamic model, has revealed that the introduction of NH3/H2 significantly enhanced the combustion speed during the initial phase and further improved combustion efficiency. However, nitrogen-based emissions such as NO and NO2 increased. This work also assessed the performance of a conventional three-way catalyst (TWC) and a double-function ammonia slip catalyst (ASC) in mitigating emissions. The TWC effectively controlled carbon-based emissions and NO under stoichiometric conditions but exhibited reduced efficiency under lean conditions, especially with NH3 present. The ASC demonstrated high NH3 conversion efficiency even at low temperatures, making it suitable for engine start-up and warm-up phases. Under steady-state conditions with artificially increased NH3/NOX ratios, a significant reduction in NOx emission was achieved with the ASC. However, high NH3/NOX ratios increased nitrous oxide (N2O) formation and NH3 slip.</p

Visible-light-driven hydrogen evolution using planarized conjugated polymer photocatalysts

Linear poly(p-phenylene)s are modestly active UV photocatalysts for hydrogen production in the presence of a sacrificial electron donor. Introduction of planarized fluorene, carbazole, dibenzo[b,d]thiophene or dibenzo[b,d]thiophene sulfone units greatly enhances the H2 evolution rate. The most active dibenzo[b,d]thiophene sulfone co-polymer has a UV photocatalytic activity that rivals TiO2, but is much more active under visible light. The dibenzo[b,d]thiophene sulfone co-polymer has an apparent quantum yield of 2.3 % at 420nm, as compared to 0.1 % for platinized commercial pristine carbon nitride

Efectos del té de compost, té de lombricompuesto y supermagro en el contenido de nitrato, azúcares, ácido ascórbico y microorganismos asociados al cultivo de lechuga (<i>Lactuca sativa</i> L.)

Se evaluó el efecto de 13 aplicaciones de té de compost 0,1% (TC), té de lombricompuesto 1% (TLC) y supermagro 0,1% (SM) frente al testigo-agua (T) en producción agroecológica de lechuga. Se midieron en cosecha acido ascórbico, azúcares reductores, nitratos, coliformes (NMP), Azospirillum sp (rizosfera) y Trichoderma sp (rizosfera y follaje). SM, TLC y TC presentaron tenores mayores de nitratos respecto al T. TC el mayor valor de nitrato (3030 ppm) y azúcares reductores (4,893 %) y el T el más bajo (1,074 %). TLC el mayor valor de ácido ascórbico (15,5 mg 100 g-1), T y SM los menores (9,8 y 9,9 mg 100 g-1). TC, TLC y SM superaron los valores tolerados de coliformes totales. La prueba confirmativa para E. coli resultó negativa, identificándose Klensiella sp. SM y TLC presentaron un efecto inhibidor sobre Trichoderma y Azospirillum, no así el TC. Profundizar éstos estudios y avanzar en tratamientos combinados permitirán ajustar el uso de estos abonos foliares en sistemas hortícolas agroecológicos.The effect of 13 applications of compost tea 0.1% (TC), 1% vermicompost tea (TLC) and supermagro 0.1% (SM) versus control-water (T) in ecological production of lettuce was evaluated. Were measured at harvest ascorbic acid, reducing sugars, nitrates, coliforms (NMP), Azospirillum sp (rhizosphere) and Trichoderma sp (rhizosphere and foliage). SM, TLC and TC presented larger tenors of nitrates compared to T. TC the highest value of nitrate (3030 ppm) and reducing sugars (4,893%) and T the lowest (1.074%). TLC the highest value of ascorbic acid (15.5 mg 100 g-1), T and SM lower (9.8 and 9.9 mg 100 g-1). TC, TLC and SM exceeded permissible values of total coliforms. The confirmatory test was negative for E. coli, identifying Klensiella sp. SM and TLC showed an inhibitory effect on Trichoderma and Azospirillum, not the TC. Deepen and advance these studies combined treatments enable you to tweak the use of these foliar fertilizers on agroecological horticultural systems.Eje: A1: Sistemas de producción de base agroecológicaFacultad de Ciencias Agrarias y Forestale

Experiencia de prácticas agroecológicas con productores de la comunidad aborigen de Villa El Perchel, Tilcara, Jujuy, Argentina

El presente trabajo aborda la experiencia de desarrollo comunitario y difusión de técnicas agroecológicas, la cual surge en el marco de un proyecto de extensión ejecutado por AER Hornillos con la Comunidad Aborigen (CA) de Villa El Perchel. En la zona de trabajo predomina la horticultura comercial con alta dependencia de agroquímicos, es parte del departamento Tilcara, provincia de Jujuy. Se ubica entre 2.643 msnm formando parte de la Región de La Quebrada de Humahuaca. El periodo de ejecución fue desde el año 2012 hasta al año 2014. La metodología de abordaje consistió en la investigación acción participativa, ensayos en parcelas y capacitaciones. Las familias productoras de la CA están en un proceso de adopción de tecnología agroecológicas en distintos grados. En el análisis surgen tres factores que influyen en este proceso: a) la puesta en práctica de las técnicas agroecológicas por parte de los productores, b) el acompañamiento técnico y c) la lógica del productor según su entorno.Eje: B5 Sistemas de conocimiento (Relatos de experiencias)Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias y Forestale